


Historical (In-)Accuracy: Misogyny in ASOIAF

by joannalannister (tywinning), tywinning



Series: Examinations of Misogyny in ASOIAF [2]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: ASOIAF meta, Fanwork Research & Reference Guides, Gen, Meta, Meta Essay, TWOIAF, The World of Ice and Fire, ValyrianScrolls, not fanfiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-04
Updated: 2015-08-04
Packaged: 2020-03-26 19:03:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19011961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tywinning/pseuds/joannalannister, https://archiveofourown.org/users/tywinning/pseuds/tywinning
Summary: A brief overview of various ways the misogyny in ASOIAF is not historically accurate





	Historical (In-)Accuracy: Misogyny in ASOIAF

**Author's Note:**

> This essay was originally posted on my tumblr at
> 
> [joannalannister.tumblr.com/post/125827358911](https://joannalannister.tumblr.com/post/125827358911/im-curious-it-was-always-told-to-me-that-the)
> 
> I have posted it here as it appears on my tumblr as of May 2019, to archive it. It may not reflect the most updated information available from GRRM. 

tumblr user memorias-inexistentes asked:

> I'm curious. It was always told to me that the violence of women in medieval series are history accurate, but I've seen here that it isn't. So, how it was? (sorry for such a silly question).

 

* * *

 

Hi [memorias-inexistentes](http://tmblr.co/mXBUeR63peDRfAbAQV2Sj4w)! The medieval period was definitely not a very good time for women, but some of the things that GRRM includes in ASOIAF are not historically accurate. GRRM made decisions as an author that arguably make Westeros a worse place for women than the real Middle Ages.

First Night is a thing that existed in ASOIAF (it was abolished by Jaehaerys I, at the urging of Queen Alysanne), and it is still practiced discretely by people like Roose Bolton, but [_prima noctis_ / droit du seigneur did not exist in the real world.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Droit_du_seigneur)

While GRRM has [said](http://www.westeros.org/Citadel/SSM/Entry/Age_of_Sexual_Relations_in_Westeros) that child-brides are rare in Westeros, GRRM has incorporated many child brides into his story, such as Rhaella Targaryen, Rohanne Webber, Helaena Targaryen (born in 109AC, first children born in 123AC), Alysanne Targaryen, Shaera Targaryen, Dorna Swyft, Jeyne Poole, Daenerys Targaryen, and Sansa Stark (not bedded only due to Tyrion’s defiance of his father). The lack of information on historical ASOIAF women may mean that there are other child brides; the data is very limited, as Maester Yandel did not devote much of his history to women. 

[It was not a normal occurrence for child-brides to be bedded and/or pregnant at 13 years old](http://joannalannister.tumblr.com/post/95383009831/one-term-often-thrown-around-is-courtly-love), even for noble women. Ages of first marriages for noble women varied across Europe, but they were typically in their late teens. While child marriage did occasionally happen in real life, it was very rare, and severely frowned upon. Margaret Beaufort is a famous historical example of a child bride, but, from my understanding, her husband Edmund Tudor impregnated her out of political convenience without regard for her welfare, and her physicians made comments to the effect that she was not fully physically developed. 

I recommend reading [“The Medieval Maiden: Young Womanhood in Late Medieval England”](http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/2439/1/DX203902.pdf) if you are interested in a detailed discussion of maidenhood, marriage, and motherhood in the medieval period. The real medieval period had a concept of “teenagers”, a time between childhood and adulthood for females. 

It was a common belief in ancient times that if very young women gave birth, the children resulting from such pregnancies would be [“deficient”. Hildegard of Bingen compared female development to the building of a house (for a fetus), with the “foundation” of the house laid prior to menstruation, the “walls” going up from age 12-15, and the “roof” of the house completed at 20; pregnancy before the age of 20 was believed to “produce a child who is weak and frail in some way.”](http://0-www.jstor.org.opac.sfsu.edu/stable/41459883?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText=\(age&searchText=of&searchText=menarche&searchText=in&searchText=medieval&searchText=europe\)&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3D%2528age%2Bof%2Bmenarche%2Bin%2Bmedieval%2Beurope%2529%26amp%3Bprq%3D%2528age%2Bof%2Bmenarche%2Bin%2Bmedieval%2Beurope%2529%2BAND%2Biid%253A%252810.2307%252Fi40071062%2529%26amp%3Bgroup%3Dnone%26amp%3Bhp%3D25%26amp%3Bso%3Drel%26amp%3Bfc%3Doff%26amp%3Bwc%3Doff&seq=3#page_scan_tab_contents)

Westeros has a [“rule of six”](http://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Rhaenys_Targaryen#Reign_of_the_Dragons) written into its legal code, in which it is lawful for a man to strike an unfaithful wife six times, using “a rod no thicker than a thumb” (TWOIAF), but a [“rule of thumb” never existed in the real world](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thumb#Thumb_used_for_abuse). 

Women’s rolls are very limited in Westeros, but [in the real medieval period and earlier, women had many, many different jobs. There were skilled female craftsmen, artists, poets, writers, physicians, and travelers. While access to higher education was restricted, schools for girls and women existed, including secondary school where they might learn latin and other languages](http://joannalannister.tumblr.com/post/123830771756/neil-gaiman-medievalpoc-ohgodhesloose). If ASOIAF were historically accurate, there would be more schools and universities in Westeros other than the Citadel, and there would be secondary schools open to girls. Historical accuracy would also mean that ladies-in-waiting would have a much greater presence in the lives of noblewomen in Westeros. [Women in history had prominent roles in dynastic politics](http://joannalannister.tumblr.com/post/107183845206/as-soon-as-there-is-any-form-of-dynastic-element). 

[Cersei’s (and Tytos’s mistress’s) “walk of shame” in the books was worse](http://joannalannister.tumblr.com/post/118390216966/in-the-middle-ages-do-penance-walk-like-cersei) than real life penance walks. ([More information about historical penance walks](http://joannalannister.tumblr.com/post/123665393256/time-the-true-history-behind-cerseis-game-of).)

[“The public walk, however, was not always so abjectly humiliating. In its most common form it was a standard pilgramage; wherein a sinner would journey to a particular holy site as a means of atonement. As well as the journey itself, pilgrims would be expected to patronise the church which they were visiting, or if they could not, perform tasks of manual labour essential to the upkeep of the church and its grounds. The two most famous examples of a public walk of shame were performed by Henry II and Jane Shore, though neither would reach Cersei levels of degradation”](http://thehistoricalnovel.com/2015/06/16/the-history-of-cerseis-walk-of-shame/)

There were [a number of famous female rulers in ancient times](http://joannalannister.tumblr.com/post/118183991666/apfelgranate-dangerktdanger), yet no queen has ever sat the Iron Throne outright; there has always been a king from whom any queen derives her power. (Cersei is currently Queen Dowager and her power is derived from her son.)

[“life probably wasn’t quite as horrific as portrayed in the war-torn world of Westeros, at least not most of the time. Back then, commoners worked hard, but they were “just people,” Pyrdum said. "We have lots of records of peasants having fun — getting really drunk, celebrations, parades,“ he said](http://www.livescience.com/44599-medieval-reality-game-of-thrones.html).”

[“For women in Martin’s novels […], sexual violence is a constant specter, with rape an everyday threat for many of the female characters. No doubt such violence existed in the Middle Ages, historians say, but women had some protections. Muslim armies rarely raped conquered populations, because rape was an unforgivable crime in Islam, DeVries said. Christian armies had slightly less-stringent religious prohibitions, but women were more protected than commonly depicted in popular culture, he said. […] Rape was not accepted as a fact of civilian life, either, though the definition of sexual assault was limited. […] rape was, indeed, seen as a serious crime in medieval Europe.”](http://www.livescience.com/44599-medieval-reality-game-of-thrones.html) 

There are many other examples of how ASOIAF is historically inaccurate, particularly in how important religion was in everyday life, and how generals like Tywin Lannister [wouldn’t necessarily have used a scorched earth policy in warfare](http://www.livescience.com/44599-medieval-reality-game-of-thrones.html), and the racial issues would require a whole other post, but I’ve tried to just focus on women. I hope this and the links provided here are helpful. However, I’m not a medievalist, so the historians around here might be able to give you a better answer to your question. If you would like to read more of my thoughts on this issue, you might check out my tag: [#gender in ASOIAF](http://joannalannister.tumblr.com/tagged/gender+in+asoiaf). My tag [#rape culture in Westeros](http://joannalannister.tumblr.com/tagged/rape-culture-in-westeros) might also be informative, though there is some overlap and discussions of the show in that tag. I recommend [this post](http://joannalannister.tumblr.com/post/120764226261/sometimes-i-read-the-comments-its-a-false).

Also, just to note, historical accuracy obviously isn’t necessary in a fantasy series with dragons, but [GRRM has used the historical accuracy argument](http://www.themarysue.com/george-rr-martin-asoiaf-rape/) / “it was just like that back then” to justify the violence against women in ASOIAF, when really it’s a choice made by the author. I am not saying that is _necessarily_ a bad choice, but it was a choice to put this much misogyny in, just as it was a choice to put in the dragons. 

Also, it seems that GRRM is using “the medieval period as depicted by popular culture in the 20th and 21st centuries” as the setting for ASOIAF, rather than a historically accurate medieval period. It’s more like a 21st century person’s worst nightmares of the medieval period. 

**Author's Note:**

> I love talking about ASOIAF! Come visit me at [joannalannister.tumblr.com](https://joannalannister.tumblr.com/) if you would like to discuss the books! 


End file.
